pedagogy

How music teachers got their groove back: Music instruction goes digital

On 10/05/2010, in K-12 related, music, pedagogy, strategy, by Daniel Christian

How music teachers got their groove back: Music instruction goes digital — from The Journal by Jennifer Demski
Faced with meager enrollment in band, orchestra, and choir programs, schools are using digital technology to excite students about creating music on today’s terms

Resources for music instructors

Technology Institute for Music Educators (ti-me.org):
A nonprofit organization that provides professional development and technology certification to music educators. Members have access to more than 1,000 lesson plans designed to aid in the application of music technology, grant writing advice, an online discussion group, and more.

Music Educators Professional Learning Network (musicpln.org):
A free online social networking environment that offers peer support and information on integrating technology into music education.

National Association for Music Education (menc.org):
A professional organization that provides support in all areas of music education, including the integration of technology in the music classroom.

Other links mentioned:

Avid: avid.com
Barbara Freedman’s website: musicedtech.com
Carol Broos’website: beatechie.com
GarageBand: apple.com/ilife/garageband.com
Sibelius: sibelius.com

Educause Quarterly — Learning Environments

On 10/01/2010, in education technology, faculty, IT in HE, learning, learning ecosystem, learning spaces, liberal arts, online learning, pedagogy, play, by Daniel Christian

The Moodle Philosophy

On 10/01/2010, in learning theories, pedagogy, by Daniel Christian

The Moodle Philosophy — from synergy-learning.com by Joel Kerr (emphasis below from DSC)

It is often said that Moodle is designed with pedagogy in mind. The developers are very transparent about the philosophy they use when making decisions about the direction of Moodle, a philosophy that focuses on what is best for the learner.

The design and development of Moodle is guided by a “Social Constructionist Pedagogy”, which can be explained in terms of four main related concepts: constructivism, constructionism, social constructivism, and connected and separate.

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education

On 09/30/2010, in Africa, education, education technology, pedagogy, strategy, student-related, by Daniel Christian

Sugata Mitra: The child-driven education — from Ted Talks <– from DSC: This is well worth your time!
My thanks to Dr. Kate Byerwalter at Grand Rapids Community College for this item

Education scientist Sugata Mitra tackles one of the greatest problems of education — the best teachers and schools don’t exist where they’re needed most. In a series of real-life experiments from New Delhi to South Africa to Italy, he gave kids self-supervised access to the web and saw results that could revolutionize how we think about teaching.

Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they’re motivated by curiosity…

Flip happens

On 09/23/2010, in chemistry, pedagogy, teaching & learning, training / L&D, by Daniel Christian

Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie – Sept 22, 2010.
#637 – Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
55,132 Readers – http://www.masie.com – The MASIE Center.
Host: Learning 2010 – Oct 24 to 27, Orlando, FL, USA.

1. Flip Happens – Reversing Process for Teaching? My colleague, Dan Pink has written about the concept of “Flip Thinking” In a recent article, Dan talks about experiments in reversing the “natural” sequence of things. For example, what if a teacher were to give the lectures as homework and the activities shift to the classroom. The author of the now viral “Shift Happens” slideshow has been doing that for high school algebra – he provides videos of the lectures for the students to view before class and uses in class time for questions, discussions and practice. There is great promise for flipping processes in learning and education. Check out Dan’s article:

Think Tank: Flip-thinking – the new buzz word sweeping the US
Teacher Karl Fisch has flipped teaching on its head – he uploads his lectures to YouTube for his students to watch at home at night, then gets them to apply the concepts in class by day.

From DSC:
I saw this same innovative thinking/approach a while back with some high school chemistry teachers implementing this “flip” in their classrooms…check out:

The Vod Couple — from The Journal by Dian Schaffhauser — back from 08/01/09
High school chemistry teachers Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann have overturned conventional classroom instruction by using video podcasts to form the root of a new learning model.

Sams (left) and Bergmann
together practice a student-centered pedagogy.

Watch out for the digital trees

On 09/20/2010, in education technology, pedagogy, relationships, strategy, teaching online, by Daniel Christian

Watch out for the digital trees — from odysseyware.com

For the first time ever, iNACOL (International Association for K-12 Online Learning) teamed up with the SREB (Southern Regional Education Board) to honor an “outstanding online teacher for exceptional contributions to online K-12 education as the nation’s K-12 Online Teacher of the Year.”

Teresa Dove, a Virginia math teacher, was chosen from more than 50 nominations of online educators in public schools and state virtual schools nationwide.

Dove said after receiving the award that teaching online allows her to spend much more time working individually with students than she did previously in a traditional classroom. Spending only a moment with students in a traditional classroom is “not enough, and our kids deserve better,” she said.

What struck me most about this award, was the advice Dove offered to online teachers as reported in an article from eClassroom News. When asked about her success, she didn’t talk about technology or the way to deliver information in an online format. She didn’t talk about how to create lessons that “translate” in the digital format.

She offered five lessons – practices – that make her effective. All of them were about relationships.

More here…

Cathy Davidson on Learning in a Digital Age

On 09/20/2010, in digital learning, education technology, multimedia, new media literacies, pedagogy, strategy, teaching & learning, writing, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
Perspectives from an English professor at Duke University, who has also studied biology and neuroscience, and who has been working for years on a variety of items surrounding this topic.

Music and learning: do they mix?

On 09/16/2010, in music, pedagogy, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

Music and learning: do they mix? — Clive Sheperd (UK)

From DSC:
Check out the comments as well…

For me, digital storytelling carries with it some potent power to educate, influence, and persuade. At minimum, music seems like it has a solid place in the digital storytelling world. However, I also realize that extraneous audio can be distracting, especially for those of us who need it quiet when we are trying to concentrate. Giving the user the choice of whether to listen/hear the audio — or see a transcript — are useful features that help provide a more customized learning experience.

Some items relating to chemistry

On 08/30/2010, in chemistry, digital video, online learning, online media, pedagogy, podcasting, by Daniel Christian

The Periodic Table of Videos — University of Nottingham

Interactive Periodic Table — from touchspin.com

Periodic Table of Elements — from ptable.com

From DSC — Here’s an oldie but goodie:
Vodcasting: The Vod Couple — from The Journal by Dian Schaffhauser — back from 08/01/09
High school chemistry teachers Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann have overturned conventional classroom instruction by using video podcasts to form the root of a new learning model.

SERC at Carleton College — strong pedagogical resources

On 08/26/2010, in geography / geology, higher education, ideas, pedagogy, by Daniel Christian

Lecture Capture: Policy and Strategy

On 08/24/2010, in career development, higher education, pedagogy, policy, strategy, by Daniel Christian

Lecture Capture: Policy and Strategy — University Business by Ellen Ullman
What is happening to the pedagogical process because of lecture capture?
July/August 2010 2010

A top ten list for successful online courses – JOLT

On 08/24/2010, in CMS/LMS, instructional design, online learning, pedagogy, teaching & learning, by Daniel Christian

A top ten list for successful online courses – from JOLT by Richard J. Wagner, Jeff P. Vanevenhoven, and James W. Bronson (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)

Abstract
Many of us have been teaching online courses for several years. In that time we have learned what works and what doesn’t from a mix of hands-on-experience, fellow online faculty, platform specific training, and exposure to pedagogical research. While training and research have their value, we learned the most about preparing an effective online course from personal experience and working with our peers. When asked to prepare a presentation for new online faculty we sat down and pooled our knowledge with respect to course design and course management. The result of this collaborative session was a list of pragmatic practices required for a successful online course. While the list could be longer, and certainly doesn’t include all our favorite practices, we believe we have included those practices that are the key to success.

Keywords: course design, course management, online, module, training

[Original posting via Ray Schroeder]

Learning Beyond Walls: 21 Skype Resources

On 08/23/2010, in pedagogy, teaching & learning, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, by Daniel Christian

Learning Beyond Walls: 21 Skype Resources — from Shelly Terrell

Learning Ecosystems